The Pros And Cons Of Breathing
by XBloodyRomanceX
Summary: When a human or demon dies they each have a particular portal to pass through to go to the afterlife. But what if your half human and half demon? Inuyasha finds out the hard way that limbo isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Can Kagome help him?
1. Introduction to death, that is

Being a hanyou made my life ten times harder then the average persons. I've been in some shitty situation, let me tell you. But none quite compare to this-

"You can't pass through." Some snot nosed brat was telling me as he sat in front of the gate that would lead me to my afterlife. Heaven? Maybe. Hell? More then likely.

"Get out of my way, brat." I snarled at the kid, easily stepping over him so I could step through the cream colored mass.

He dropped the brush he had been combing his ridiculously fluffy tail with in favor of leaping at me shouting, "Hey! I told you, you can't pass through. Don't even bother trying! Nothing will happen, moron! Your half _human_ so you can't go through a portal that's for _demons_ only."

He rolled his small almond eyes in an exaggerated manner at my oh-so apparent stupidity. Great. I'm dead and the universe is still trying to fuck me over. Does it ever stop?

I glared down at the small fox-like child who had his hands on his hips as he glared right back at me. No. I thought not.

Hiding the fear and desperation that was creeping up my spine, (Hey! If you had just died - and that in itself is taxing, wouldn't you be just a tad upset if some high-and-mighty hairball that barely reached your ankles was telling you that you can't pass over?) And replacing it with anger, of which I had a surplus amount of.

"Well, what the hell am I supposed then?" I snarled, mustering enough intensity that the tail with a mouth actually scrambled back a few steps.

"Hey! Don't get all mad at me! I don't make the rules, ya know." He put a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm...I dunno. I've never had to deal with a situation like this before." A light bulb suddenly went off in his head and he jumped up in the air like something had just exploded underneath his butt (If he had one beneath that tail of his...)

"I know! I know! Why don't you go to the human portal?"

I snorted.

"But there I would be half _demon_ in a portal only meant for _humans_." This is officially the worst day of my li- - of my existence(?) And I have a very large assortment to choose from.

" I know _that_." the kid retorted. "But_ Kagome_'s over there. She might know what to do." he seemed generally happy with that explanation. (What the heck is a Kagome? Isn't that some sort of fruit drink?)

But I guess I had no choice. It was creepy wandering around in limbo. Not to mention horribly depressing. If I wasn't already dead I would kill myself.

"Fine." I growled out as I turned to walk away. Here's another con of this spirt realm thing. (I don't know what the hell to call it) There are no directions. It took me what seemed like forever - I don't think there's a real concept of time here, to find the freaking' demon portal. I guess eventually I'll stumble upon the human one. After who know how long of traveling,

I sighed deeply and dug my claws into the flesh of my palm. I quickly retracted my claws. I snorted unamused. "Who would have guessed you can still feel pain when your dead?" I spoke to myself, glad to hear the sound of my voice after all this absolute silence.

"Actually you can't." A tinkling female voice answered. "Your mind just remembers that it's supposed to hurt."

I whirled around to see a girl standing off to my left. She was sitting down, long legs crossed politely. She had wavy black hair and a vivid, blessedly kind smile. I guessed her to be around sixteen.

"Who're you?" I asked blandly, not returning her kindness. If you'd lived a day in my shoes (I just realized I'm not wearing shoes...) You would be cautious too. You wouldn't be easily thwarted by a pretty girl with a kind smile because beauty can sometimes be a trick. I actually prefer to be around unattractive people, if I have to be around anyone at all, because their face shows the truth- what's really going on inside.

She seemed a little surprised by my harsh tone. "Me?"

No, princess. The other chick I'm talking too right beside you. "M y name is Kagome. I'm sort of like...a tour guide, I guess. If souls are lost, I help them find where there supposed to be."

Oh good. I found the right person. I'm very relieved she's not a fruit drink. She looked me over and then smiled a smile that could have charmed a wall. Luckily, I am not a wall. "Can I help you?"

A/N.

This really isn't a chapter. Its more of a prologue, I think. The next update will be the first real chapter. Thanks for reading! That's pretty hardcore. Oh, and here's my disclaimer: I own nothing. End of story. (With the exception of my own plot - so no touchy!) Review if you want. I'll smile.

_**XBloodyRomanceX**_


	2. A Terribly Sticky Situation

I'm in a terribly sticky situation. All the time I've spent helping lost souls find peace, I have never been encountered with a problem like this. Or more like a problem like _his_. When I first saw him, this extra sense I've required since my passing let me know that he wasn't all demon, nor was he all human.

I felt sympathy for him, I knew nothing about him other then his life must have been a very harsh one. So, of course as a good guide I tried to be as nice as possible.

Now, for most people this worked. Humans and demons alike, even on the humans (Of whom I usually dealt with) that acted more like demons.

On this guy? Nuh-uh. I thought maybe the poor atmosphere had put him in a sour mood, so I began to lead him to a much more pleasant area. The part we were in was basically grey. The colors, the smells, the water, the ground. Everything was grey. Including this guy's (I have yet to get a name out of him) mood.

On the way I tried to make polite conversation, but he only answered my questions in one word, or sometimes a growl. Mostly a glare, and now he was ignoring me.

Normally I would feel offended that the soul I'm trying to help would act to rude! But I have no idea what he's been through, and he has died fairly recently. When I died I hadn't felt too sweet, either.

So, I allowed us to fall into a rather uncomfortable silence as we walked.

I began to try to get a good look at him. I've never actually seen a hanyou before. This was hard to do because of his long platinum hair. It lay in messy disarray around his face and down his back, pretty much hiding his face from me, but if he turned a certain way - usually in a particular direction that his fuzzy wolf-like ears would jerk to, I would catch a glimpse of intense amber eyes hiding beneath long bangs.

I wondered absentmindedly if he had left a lover behind. That usually put people in horrible fits.

But by the way he kept a distance from me, both physically and mentally, I had a feeling that was improbable.

With my extra sense I could feel that he hadn't let anyone close enough in too long a time to manage that. I was puzzled. He was young and good-looking in a...ruffled way. Surely some female had tried to snag him?

"What's this?" He asked, which was the longest sentence he'd spoken since we started are brief journey.

"This is a bridge, to the next area. It's much nicer. I think you'll like it." I replied cheerily.

He nodded and crossed the bridge a good step or two behind me.

Color immediately hit us in the face. Beautiful splashes of it - just like it was on earth if I remember correctly.

His pointy ears stood as erect as they could, and he unfolded his arms, allowing his arms to hang freely by his side.

The farther we walked, the more the place resembled earth. I lead us to a wooden-like cabin that had no door, just bamboo stalks trailing to the ground. We pushed passed them and entered.

In the middle of the hut stood a hunched figure with long gray hair imprisoned in a low pony tail.

"How are you, Kaede?" I greeted politely.

"I'm well." She replied, turning to fix us with a wise stare. She eyed me briefly before eyeing the blood red get-up my companion was wearing.

She smiled sagely and simply said "Ah.. Inuyasha. I was wondering when you were going to turn up. I'm glad it was Kagome you sought."

I was used to Kaede somewhat uncanny wisdom, but he - Inuyasha was not. He lifted his head and met her with a molten glare.

"How do you know my name?" He snarled, his clawed hands flexing.

"Hey!" I cried out, trying to distract his anger from Kaede. "Calm down. It's her job to know everyone. She keeps track of everyone and how they've died." I tried to explain. It was hard to do so, though. Inuyasha was new to this side of the fence - and well. It's kind of like trying to describe color to a person who's never seen it.

He cooled, but only momentarily.

"So..." He started uneasily, "You...know how I died."

Kaede smiled, and I swear I saw laughter in her eyes, even through her mouth stayed in a straight, disciplined line.

She nodded, her hands moving to fold behind her back. "Yes."

He clenched his teeth in answer, he averted his yellow eyes. Kaede's faded grey eyes glowed with silent mirth. "Shall we keep it between us?" She soothed.

"Yeah."

I now felt throughly out of the loop. I turned curiously to Inuyasha. "How did you die?"

"That's none of your business, girl!" He snapped.

I decided to let the issue go - for now. "Okay, okay." I copied his posture and folded my arms. "And I would appreciate it if you called me Kagome."

He kind of rolled his eyes at me. I thanked heaven that I would be able to beg this guy off on Kaede. That reminded me about business.

I turned my back to the ruffled dog hanyou and tilted my head at Kaede.

"I guess you know the situation?" I asked, knowing she did.

"Indeed I do." She started to walk away towards the bamboo curtain. She lifted a few stalks and glanced outside. She dropped the bamboo and walked back to her original position.

After sighing heavily, she continued. "Yes, I know your situation. There are many passages to the after life - but there are only those for Humans, and those for Demons. I'm afraid you can't pass through either of them, Inuyasha."

Her words hit Inuyasha in the stomach like a ton of bricks. I could tell by the way he paled, and his jaw muscled tightened. My heart went out to him, and I forgave him for his rude behavior earlier. A dark cloud invaded the amber depths of his eyes, and a hot pressure built behind my eyes when I saw utter defeat weigh him down.

I resisted the urge to run away from the overwhelmingly depressing waves rolling off his body. His once proud gaze dropped to the floor.

My position here was appointed, and very much an honor. To be stuck here forever in this middle place was more horrible a fate then my mind could handle. And all because of forces way out of his control. I bit my lip.

"However..." Kaede broke the dead silence.

My hopes raised immediately, but I noticed Inuyasha was barely listening.

"There is a possible way to resolve the problem."

That caught his interest.

"On Earth, among it's inhabitants is a jewel that used to have a place here. It is an incredibly powerful object. Powerful enough to transform you into either a Human or Demon."

Inuyasha's eyes absolutely lit up.

Kaede inclined her head, a smile finally touching her mouth.

"Kagome, you will accompany Inuyasha back to Earth and help him find this jewel."

A/N

Ha. Surprise Kagome. W00T! Chapter two is complete. Sorry it's so short. I'm grounded so I'll have plenty of time to sit around at home and write. . Grr...

Thanks for reading! And bless those who reviewed. I think I love you...

(And just incase I forgot to mention - I own nothing! As much as I wish I owned the millions the Inuyasha series has raked up over the years...I just don't.)

_**XBloodyRomanceX**_


End file.
